5th Year Adventures, Short Story 14, Harry Potter and the 2nd Hogwarts
by PTMaskell
Summary: Harry Potter and the 2nd Battle of Hogwarts Harry battles the runaway dark wizard on an Unplottable Isle, only to find himself in the center of the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Filius Flitwick and the strange behavior of the Hogwarts Professors.
1. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal"5th Year Adventures, Short Story 14: Harry Potter and the 2nd Battle of Hogwarts/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry Potter finally catches up to the runaway dark wizard on an Unplottable Isle, expecting to find him unarmed and defenseless, but his mission is far from over, and it is now up to the Boy Who Lived to solve the mystery surrounding Filius Flitwicks disappearance, and the strange happenings at Hogwarts that all started with a lost wand./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Characters:/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry Potter, Auror, The Boy Who Lived Twice/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Rubeus Hagrid/p  
p class="MsoNormal"OC: Felipe John Couillard III (Monsieur Couillard, the young Frenchman)/p  
p class="MsoNormal"- - - - - - - - - -/p  
p class="MsoNormal"'That,' Harry thought has he struggled to make his way through the Forbidden Forest, 'was harder than it should have been,' grunting with the effort of carrying his burden./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The Auror had to put in extra effort to keep his feet steady beneath him while keeping a wary ear out for the dangers of the Forest. His robes torn, muscles aching, and head positively throbbing, Harry Potter carried the unconscious body of the student he'd been stalking for nearly a year toward the Hogwarts grounds. Each step strained his aching muscles, and the weight of his deeds, combined with the guilt upon his back made them that much harder to strive forward instead of screaming in the opposite direction./p  
p class="MsoNormal"His mission wasn't yet done./p  
p class="MsoNormal"His cheeks were damp, and robes soaked from the battle that led him back to his boyhood school. It had been far more challenging than the Auror had been expecting. The chase alone had taken nine months, and the entire continent was searching for him. Harry knew he'd been recognized on multiple occasions, and newspapers had confirmed his mysterious absence. At the time it hadn't mattered at all, and even now it was something he was going to have to push to the back of his mind./p  
p class="MsoNormal"One foot in front of the other./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But his feet were just as unwilling to make the journey back as the one he carried over his shoulders was. Every step took conscious effort. Each painful stride forward needed a reminder as to why he was doing this./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'Why AM I doing this?' he asked himself. 'Why aren't I taking him to the Ministry of Magic for his own safety? Why am I going back to the school, knowing what's waiting for me?' the questions swirled madly around his head, burning the scar behind his dirty, tattered hair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Because his mission was not yet done./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The words rang in his ears clearly./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He'd heard them clear as day from inside his head for a long time now, and had long been convinced that voice was his own. He'd heard those very words again not an hour earlier; blurred, screaming, nonsensical, and out of logical order./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Finding the young French wizard now slung over Harry's aching back had been no small feat considering the fledgling student had fled the school at the beginning of the school year before he'd even completed the first quarter of the term./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The night this all started had begun with a clandestine summoning to the school from the Department of Mysteries, Missing Magical Persons division./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'No,' Harry pondered as he forced another exhausting step forward, 'that isn't when this started. If the DoM was right, then this started almost five years ago.'/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Not even knowing how right he was, Harry distracted himself trying to figure this whole situation out while his feet carried him forward against his will./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Almost 9 months prior, just about a week after sending his own children off to school, Harry had received a missive that led to a secretive meeting in the Department of Mysteries. Against all odds, the cold case tracking of Fillius Flitwick had gotten a momentary hit on their scrying boards. Flitwick had been missing since before Harry's middle child, Albus Severus had gone off to his first trip to Hogwarts./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Something about that day bothered Harry now. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on, that he knew had nothing to do with Flitwicks disappearance./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The blip on the scrying boards had been only momentary, but they were certain: Flitwick was at Hogwarts, and had been under wards hiding his presence for a long time./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It had been a moonless night when Harry apparated onto school grounds and silently made his way toward the Headmistresses office. He found the golden eagle guarding the office lowered, and the way clear. After stealthily making his way up, he'd knocked on the door, half-expecting Minerva McGonnagal to be in bed, but she had indeed answered his call./p  
p class="MsoNormal"She'd been remarkably cold toward him, and uninterested in his search. It took an unusual amount of convincing just to allow him passage to do even a passive sweep of the building to attempt to locate the lost Hogwarts Charms Professor. He wasn't convinced himself that it hadn't been anything more than a glitch in the system until the moment he'd turned his back. That's when the attack began./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry hadn't even fully turned away from the desk and gotten past the Penseive that Albus Dumbledore kept in his office when Harry was forced to defend himself. The battle had taken them into the courtyard where a slight fallback in her offense had given him just enough of an opening to disarm the Headmistress, but he lost her wand: instead of going to his hand, it flung wildly off into the black sky over the school./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He'd used that opening to escape into the school, using one of his rare tools; the Marauders Map, he avoided capture for some time, even healing his wounds. But that dropped his guard just long enough to be put under an Unforgivable Curse he once thought himself to be immune to. Thinking back on it now, there hadn't been any voice this time. No voice asking why he must do these things. No voice willing against the control he was forced under. And no feeling of ease he'd felt when the Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr. disguised as Alastor Moody had used it on him. Alastor Moody had been trying to gain his trust, and at the time, Harry had horcrux in his head, a final piece of the dark lord Voldemort's soul inside him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"This person controlling him was neither his friend, nor trying to gain his trust./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Tracking the young French student had been fairly easy. Through some madness, the boy had acquired an Antipodean Opaleye Dragon. They literally did not exist in this part of the world, and were on the brink of extinction in their own native range of New Zealand. Any sighting of one anywhere was 100% guaranteed to be Harry's quarry. He even wandered right into the Ministry of Magic's sights by returning to his home town where they were able to track him with the Trace./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Since then Harry had been relying solely on his tracking abilities, sleeping only when absolutely exhausted to avoid the wrath of his master. The young student had no ability to apparate, and after the encounter in Normandy, no magic either. The charred remains of the students wand had been returned to the instructors at Hogwarts. The burned werewolf tooth that tipped the young mans wand was returned to the mouth of the Flying Instructor, and they'd cruelly vanished the bones in his broken arm as punishment./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The last sighting of the Opaleye had been flying eastward, back towards Australia, with no rider. Harry tracked it for some time, mapped its course, and traced a line directly between the snowy caldera in the northern mountains of Greenland, and over the northern tip of Scotland. There wasn't a Muggle map in the world that would have led him to suspect the student was hiding there; But there was a Ministry map or two. And having smuggled out an enchanted map that showed the locations of all Unplottable places in Europe, the line intersected at Drear./p  
p class="MsoNormal"A lone, lost wizard, low on supplies, wandless, and now no dragon to protect him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"This should have been easy./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry Potter made no claim to fame, no titles to his name, nor accolades to which society felt he was owned. He was a lifelong survivor./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He should have known better./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The sun was rising./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It would be the 2supnd/sup day of the O.W.L. exams for his boy Albus Severus today. Glancing at the worn form currently slung over his shoulder. This one's too had he been attending school./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Despite the pain and weariness of his muscles and the seeming daunting task of carrying this 5supth/sup year student across the threshold he'd been unable to apparate past, the boy was actually very light. A child his age should have been sturdy. Harry was sure he could feel the boys ribs through his robes. And despite all that he'd still nearly lost to the inexperienced Frenchman./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The Forbidden Forest had finally given way to a fog-filled clearing on the edge of a garden. The old paths of the woods were the same after all this time, and they all led back to Hagrids hut./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Just where he'd hoped./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Without knocking, Harry kicked in the door to the Care of Magical Creatures Professors home./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Whossat!" called out the startled half-giant from the opposite end of the relatively small home as he climbed out of his equally small bed, sleeping cap askew, and mismatched, patchwork sleeping robe hiding an oversized set of Jolly Green Giant sleeping clothes./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry ignored his old friends startled inquiry and proceeded to practically lob his burden into a vacant armchair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Fang continued to snore loudly from the floor. The old hound couldn't be arsed./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Harry?" came Rubeus upon his intruder./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Blimey son, wha ya doin' 'ere? The whole world's out lookin fer you!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I've been hunting, Hagrid!" the exasperated wizard shouted at his old friend. "It's what I do, and everyone knows it! That's why it's had to be me, and I don't understand why!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hunting, Harry?" Hagrid asked, instinctively reaching for a tea kettle from the assorted cookware hung from hooks in the ceiling. "Hunting who?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry who had been frantically pacing and clutching at his head with both hands stopped, whipped an accusing finger at the scrawny, pale, bleeding, and out cold sixteen year old French boy, "HIM!"/p 


	2. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal"The previous day Harry Potter arrived on Drear Island. Unplottable, and quarantined for the strictest of reasons, and forgotten by most for the best reasons. The Isle of Drear is home to a savage, flesh-hungry creature known as Quintapeds; five-legged creatures covered in thick reddish-brown fur, stumped feet, and a nasty taste for human. Lost, but not quite forgotten, it would have been an absolutely perfect hiding spot if you could avoid the natives./p  
p class="MsoNormal"His mission was clear. Find out what the boy knows about the wand, bring him back for further questioning. The landscape on the hidden Scottish Isle was like most of the highlands: dreich. Jagged, rocky coasts, stony beach, white grass swamps, damp, and perpetually overcast. As always, Harry had been wearing his Invisibility Cloak when he apparated in pursuit of his enemies. A tool in his arsenal as an Auror that continued to make him one of the best./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry kept his spells wordless when hunting. Wand at the ready he thought, 'Homenum Revelio,' the Human-Presence-Revealing spell pulsed outward. The results were confusing, to say the least. Several former human signatures resonated in Harry's senses, the Quintapeds no doubt, stuck in their not-fully-transfigured state, but as was sometimes the case when hunting someone hidden within an enchanted enclosure, he couldn't sense the Frenchman./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry did not have all the time in the world. His master wanted answers, and would not accept him returning empty-handed again. Making his way further into the island as silent as possible to avoid the savage creatures who called this unwanted island home, he found no trace of humanity, or civilization. Once he'd gotten the general layout; the old village, a river, a ruined dock, the rest was field and coastlines, he decided to look closer./p  
p class="MsoNormal"At first he thought it would be easiest to hide in the old wizarding village, but Harry found nothing there except rotting wood, smashed everything, and Quintapeds hunting gulls. The coastline showed no recent signs of any disturbance whatsoever./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't until he reached the end of the inland river until he found what he was looking for./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The river vanished into the ground, down into a great grass-covered hole. The echo of the waterfall sounded like a cave, or hidden lagoon within. The perfect hiding place on a island filled with flesh-eaters. Glancing around the grassy edges, Harry saw deep, sharp marks on either side of the entrance. Almost like a dragon had used the ledges there to pull itself out and lift off into the air./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Claw marks for sure./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He finally had the boy cornered./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Keeping his wand hidden within the cloak he wore, he braced his arms firmly inside the sleeves. With a swish and flick he wordlessly cast the Levitation Charm on it, and slowly guided himself down. Once inside, he glanced around: the inside was definitely large enough to hide, the river fed into large pool at the center, and there, off to the left, was Harry's target./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The boy stood with his back turned to Harry, left arm hanging at his side, robes tattered, and worn covered his head. He was holding something in his right hand in front of him, obscured from the Aurors line of sight, and he was talking to himself./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The young Frenchman's voice became clearer as Harry landed and he began his silent approach./p  
p class="MsoNormal""And as you hear these words," the boy said, "know that he is behind you and the final battle between you is about to begin."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry started in his footsteps. He'd found an angle of attack, and saw what the young Frenchman was holding in his hand./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It was an Orb of Prophecy./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The image of the young boy hovered above the glowing crystal ball, eyes clouded over, voice flat, speaking from deep within./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry did not give the boy time to react and shouted, "Stupify!" blasting the robed figure in the back./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But there was no stumble to the ground. The robes collapsed into the rocks, the orb smashed on the fall. The face within it was released, continued to talk. The weary face of young Monsieur Couillard locked eyes with the Auror./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Heed my warning, as I speak not to warn myself, but to you, Harry Potter."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""BOMBARDA!" came a ferocious shout from behind Harry./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The spell landed square into his own back where he'd just hit the boys robes. Had he not wordlessly cast a Protego on himself at the last second, that could very well have been fatal./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nevertheless, Potter felt his ribs crack at the impact, as a deafening explosion rocked the lagoon./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Ears ringing, Harry threw himself toward the cave wall, twisting in mid-air causing his Invisibility Cloak to come loose and expose his flank./p  
p class="MsoNormal""BOMBARDA BOMBARD BOMBARDA!" came a slew of attacks exploding the rocks, sand, and cave walls around him causing a cloud of debris to obscure his vision./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He struck the ground hard, narrowly avoiding a cacophony of literally explosive attacks. Harry had not expected such tactical thinking, nor energetic attacks from the 5supth/sup year student./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'And where did he get a new wand?' Harry wondered briefly as he pulled his cloak back over himself, readying himself to regroup./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Dodging to he left, he got caught in an unspoken Flipendo, and felt his left foot loose purchase and slip out of the cloak./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Tarantallegra!" came a shout from across the cave. The boy had moved, but his aim still managed to hit the exposed leg which began twitching and swinging wildly of its own accord./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Twisting around toward the source of the spell, Harry spotted the young Frenchman rushing across the waters edge attempting to throw Harry off. But now he was in Harry's sights, and his mission was not yet complete./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You've got to finish your mission!" came a shout. "BOMBARDA!" Harry had covered his leg, and managed to dive out of the way. 'How can he know those words?' the Auror screamed interally./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know where he is!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Stupefy!" shouted Harry, exposing his wand from within his cloak, but the spell went slightly wide, striking the cave wall behind the boy. He didn't seem phased by it at all. And he had that bag of his around his shoulder. He could have any number of tricks in there./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Sure enough, the Frenchman reached into the sack to get something./p  
p class="MsoNormal""ACCIO BAG!" Harry shouted, and the satchel ripped itself from the side of the young student who had depended on it so much in recent months. It flew across the cave, and Harry let it fall to the ground just as a shattering of glass could be heard as the young man fell over from the wrenching off him the bag had done./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The temperature in the cave immediately dropped. A shapeless void of shadow rose up from where Monsieur Couillard had fallen. Ice formed along the surface of the water as smoke-like tendrils lurched across the cave and into view./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'Harry!' came a distant cry somewhere in the Imperio'd Aurors head. 'Nooo!' came an all-to-familiar scream of his mothers voice as she cried out her last breath protecting him the night he was orphaned. Cold overwhelmed his senses as it became clear what had happened, the boy had been hiding a Dementor in his bag somehow, and when he'd fallen, the glass breaking must have released it./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The cold was drawing inward on Harry. His mission had left him devoid of any artillery Harry would need to fight off the soul-sucking beast now stalking the happiness from within him. And if it killed Harry, it would no doubt go after the boy next. And his mission would be a failure./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He had never failed. And failing like this meant he would never return the boy to the school. Where his two boys were right now./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'With them.'/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Looking up into the face of death, Harry felt his life draining away./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He wouldn't let it end like this./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know where they all are, Harry, you've been there! You can save them!" came the young Frenchmans frantic voice from across the water, still directly across from him, even as the Dementor bored down on him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"The thought of finding his three children back at the school, seeing them again brought up a light within the Auror./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Whipping his wand toward the monster that loomed over him, he felt it swell up and fight its way toward his wand, "EXPECTO!" and release in a burst of light, "PATRONUM!" That light took the form a large Stag. The pulsing magnitude of the spell repelled the Dementor clear across the cave where it was hammered against the wall, until its darkness eroded and vanished once and for all./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry collapsed from the exertion for a moment. He spared just a moment to bow his head and breath deep. After just a moment, a pair of feet covered in worn shoes appeared under his face./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Your mission is not yet complete."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gasping slightly, Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, "STUPIFY!" as he jolted upright and blasted the young Frenchmen square in the chest, hurtling him backwards into the water. The splash sent water clear across the cave./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry scrambled to his feet, his wand pointed at the floating shape in the water, prepared to press his attack if need be./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But the boy didn't move./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Taking a caution step forward he heard glass crunch under his foot./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Wand still pointed at the ready, Harry noticed he'd stepped on the loose robe that had been used to fool him when he first entered the cave. Two matching vials had rolled out./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Keeping his wand steady, Harry bent down to pick one up, and turned it over to read the label: Invigoration Draught./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Looking back up at the unmoving form in the water, Harry was confused./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'Two Invigoration Draughts?' he thought. One could keep you going for weeks, but two?/p  
p class="MsoNormal"'He must be faking,' Harry realized. He'd better bind the boy before he made his move./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry rushed forward into the water./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He'd barely made in knee deep when the truth hit him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Stopping mid-stride, Harry fell to his knees, gasping for breath. Something inside him was forcibly wrenched free, and forced out./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh my god!" Harry choked out. Looking around him, for the first time in what felt like forever, it dawned on him what he was truly doing./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He had been hunting a child./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Chasing him across Europe, stalking him, taking every moment of peace and replacing it with the terror of being hunted just as he had been for so long./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry had been so caught up in hastily gathering his thoughts, he hadn't been paying attention the Homenum Revelio spell he'd cast, and hadn't noticed one of the blips making its way toward the commotion./p  
p class="MsoNormal"A feral hissing from above caught his attention./p  
p class="MsoNormal"One of the reddish-brown furred creatures with five stumped limbs had spotted him, and lept fang-filled-mouth first at him./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Barely dodging aside in time to avoid the razor-sharp teeth, Harry had no idea how he was going to fight such a thing./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He wouldn't have to worry for long. The Quintaped landed in the water with an odd splash, and immediately began thrashing about, screaming in confusion and pain./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It lasted all but a few moments. That was all it took for the creature to lose a limb, stretch itself out, and take on human form. A form of a red-bearded man who in moments grew grey, haggard, and die./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'The water,' Harry realized, 'it's the Thieves Fall.' The waterfall in Gringotts that lifted any and all spells or enchantments that changed appearances, and broke spells. Goblins had kept its ingredients a strict secret, but somehow the mad young student had either stolen it, or more likely considering he made his home into a potions lab back at Hogwarts, figured it out himself. And he'd used it on the river./p  
p class="MsoNormal"That was why he kept keeping opposite me during our fight. He was hoping to break the curse./p  
p class="MsoNormal"'The curse that McGonnagal had placed on him.'/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Harry shivered. Something was horribly wrong. He hadn't thought of that night nine months ago because she hadn't let him. But after she attacked him, she cursed him. She'd used an Unforgivable Curse after she'd attacked him and battled him across the school./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I guess," Harry said, "my mission isn't finished yet after all."/p 


End file.
